Marlies Win Third Straight at Home Over Syracuse

by

Toronto Marlies

Game Recap

Rasmus Sandin opened the scoring with his first career AHL goal in his first game to set the tone as the Marlies delivered a strong showing against Syracuse, defeating the Crunch 4-1 on home ice for a third straight win.

Sandin delivered a point shot that pinballed and bounced into the back of the net with just under seven minutes remaining in the first. Chris Mueller and Carl Grundstrom had the helpers on the goal.

Less than two and a half minutes later, Mueller intercepted a pass at Syracuse’s blueline, broke away and scored with a quick shot to extend the lead to 2-0.

The Crunch cut into the lead in the final two minutes of the first when Taylor Raddysh scored for Syracuse, but the Marlies took the 2-1 lead into intermission.

Mason Marchment got the Marlies out to a quick start in the second, scoring just 21 seconds into the middle frame on the backhand after a great feed from Calle Rosen. Trevor Moore had the secondary assist as the lead was extended to 3-1.

That score held up until just past the midway mark of the third when Moore scored one of his own, poking a loose puck past Pasquale from the top of the crease and giving the Marlies the 4-1 lead that would last as a final score. Andreas Borgman and Jordan Subban had the helpers on that goal.

Jeff Glass picked up the victory with an 18-save performance while Pasquale had 27 saves in the losing effort for Syracuse.

The win is the Marlies third straight at home and gives them points in four straight contests going back to last Friday in Rochester.

Defensively, the Marlies have only allowed four goals over their past three games. They’ll now head out on the road for the next five games while the Royal takes over Coca-Cola Coliseum. Follow along with all the action on the road on AHLTV.

Game Preview

The Toronto Marlies (3-4-0-1) will look to earn a third straight win at home Friday night when the visiting Syracuse Crunch (2-3-0-0) come to town.

The two North Division foes know each other well, meeting in the second round of the postseason in each of the past two years. Toronto finished out a sweep in Syracuse in the last meeting between the two sides, who always seem to ratchet up the rivalry when they meet.

Tuesday night action saw the Marlies defeat Laval 2-1 in overtime and before that it was a 3-2 victory over Hartford on home ice that sees the Marlies with points in three consecutive games.

Syracuse last played Saturday, dropping a 4-3 contest to Binghamton at home.

One key area for the Marlies entering tonight’s game will be converting on opportunities with the man advantage. The power play has gotten off to a good start, scoring on 20.6% of chances, and will look to build on that against a Crunch penalty kill that has struggled so far, killing off just 69.6% of shorthanded situations.

Trevor Moore (6G, 2A) and Sam Gagner (4G, 4A) continue to lead the Marlies offensively this season with 8 points apiece while Carl Grundstrom (3G, 4A) has six points in his last three games.

Rookie Alex Barre-Boulet leads the Crunch with five points (2G, 3A) on the season while Andy Andreoff and Gabriel Dumont are second in scoring with four apiece.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 and fans can catch all the action on Leafs Nation Network and AHLTV.

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